This year’s first-ever “NBA In-Season Tournament” was astounding, with two undefeated teams and their two superstars shining brighter than ever. Before I talk about these two teams, I should probably talk about the origins of the tournament. All NBA teams competed for the NBA Cup with the 30 teams split into six groups. The In-Season Tournament featured new boldly painted courts, and the championship was decided with a single-elimination knockout stage bracket among the remaining eight teams. The final, which happened this past Saturday, was held in Las Vegas.
You might also be wondering why the NBA would make such a huge change to the regular season. The main thing was that Commissioner Adam Silver needed something to spice up early season games. Although the season started in October, many casual NBA fans don’t begin watching until later on in the season due to the regular season games being less exciting than playoff games. But thanks to the tournament, all of the games felt like playoff games. Additionally, all the players were dedicated to winning the Cup for the $500,000 per player prize that was given to the winning team. Alright, back to the action.
For the Pacers in the East, Tyrese Haliburton (#0 above) has proved his leap to superstardom with 27.8 points and a league-high 13.7 assists. None of us could have expected that he or the Pacers would ever make it to the final round, considering their young core, which, while it leads the league in points, has the third-worst defensive rating. However, this lack of defense didn’t seem to matter when the Pacers took down the Celtics, who have the 6th best offensive rating, and the Bucks who have the 3rd best offensive rating. Watching them play, it would appear that they are a well-rounded team, led by someone who has the experience and skill to take them all the way, not a team that didn’t even make the playoffs last year.
For the Lakers in the West, LeBron James (#23 above) is still proving that age is just a number, and has been good for 26.8 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.5 rebounds per-game. As for the rest of the team; AD (Anthony Davis) has been a menace on defense, D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) has been quietly good, and Austin Reaves has dominated with his playmaking and shot creation. In their win against the Pelicans, the Lakers shot an outstanding 50% from three. Unlike the Pacers, the Lakers were one of the favorites to win the Cup. Everyone already knew how good the Lakers could be and I wasn’t surprised by their performance.
In the final, the Lakers took home another victory, beating the Pacers 123-109 thanks to the help of AD with an impressive stat line of 41 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks followed by LeBron’s 24 points and Austin Reaves’s 28 points, even though he was “under the weather.” LeBron also added some new hardware to his collection by taking home the In Season Tournament MVP. As for how the game went, it was very close, with the Pacers only being down three with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. It was anybody’s game until AD took over in the paint, throwing down back-to-back dunks and giving the Lakers all the energy they needed to close out the game. While it would have been nice to see the Pacers win something for their fanbase, the Lakers win feels like the perfect ending to the tournament. The key thing to take away from this tournament is that Lebron is still an amazing player as ever in his 21st year, and with this momentum, the Lakers will hopefully try to tackle their next obstacle, another championship.
